Category: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Early treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, studies show, pays off for patients in terms of long-term quality of life and a lower chance of later needing joint replacements. I can attest to this with a more personal perspective. Just yesterday I visited with my aunt who happens to have severe rheumatoid arthritis. For the past seven…

Psoriatic arthritis, being slightly less common than rheumatoid arthritis, garners less research than rheumatoid arthritis. However, more than 2 million Americans struggle with the devastating effects of this disease, which causes chronic, painful inflammation of the joints and connective tissue. It’s common for psoriatic arthritis to develop about a decade after psoriasis. Cosentyx® (secukinumab) is…

The issue of “biosimilar” medications has been under debate for years. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is on the cusp of approving the first biosimilar. In case you don’t know, biosimilars are less expensive versions of already approved biological medications used for cancer, autoimmune, and other diseases. Biologic medications are typically large…

Nearly 1.3 million Americans endure the effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), leaving them with painful, swollen joints. This disease develops when the immune system mistakenly targets the linings of joints. The current front-line treatment to counteract this autoimmune attack is the medication methotrexate which suppresses inflammation by dampening the body’s immune response. Methotrexate, in a…

The sky-rocketing cost of healthcare certainly isn’t breaking news. There is, however, an unfortunate trend related to these rising fees. As costs increasingly shift from payers onto the patients themselves – through greater out-of-pocket costs – finances for some patients hit a threshold which impacts adherence. In other words, some patients are simply getting priced…

Arthritis & Rheumatism, only one in five people with rheumatoid arthritis reach an adherence rate of at least 80 percent for their oral medications. In addition, one-third of patient taking non-biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) don’t comply with the use of these medications. This study enrolled 107 RA patients during a two-year period at…